KOS Organic Plant Based Protein Powder

First off, this is one of, if not the best tasting 100% plant-based vegan protein powders that I’ve tried...without any bloat! It mixes evenly with water, almond or coconut milk, and is a great addition to any smoothie. My favorite and most satisfying smoothie thus far; has been throwing a banana, cup of coconut milk, a handful of berries, a heaping tablespoon of almond butter and 2 scoops of KOS chocolate protein powder. It’s simply delicious and i find it hard to not drink the whole thing without setting it down...and my toddler loves it too! Yesterday morning I made sweet potatoes pancakes with a free-range egg, half a banana, handful of blueberries, dash cinnamon, sprinkle of dried coconut, 1 scoop of KOS chocolate protein, and a medium sized sweet potato. It might be my new go-to breakfast, post workout meal replacement with protein or after dinner healthy “dessert”. I just checked out the KOS website and downloaded their “Organic Guide to Vegan Protein”...take a look as it has some great recipe ideas. I’m planning on picking up the ingredients to make the “Chocolate Almond Protein bars” and the “Pumpkin Pie Chia Pudding” ASAP. Without writing a novel, i just wanted to make one more note about the quality of ingredients as it is VERY important to me as I have an Autoimmune disease that I control solely through diet. I LOVE that this protein powder is not only USDA Organic, but is also NON-GMO, gluten, soy and dairy free with pure and REAL ingredients. I often find that plant-based protein powders can cause excessive bloating, but it seems that the added digestive enzymes are doing their job in preventing this and allowing my body to absorb all the beneficial vitamins and nutrients. I will be definitely be ordering another chocolate and look forward to trying the vanilla flavor as I love both chocolate and vanilla. KOS has a “100% Satisfaction Guarantee”, which is great, but i assure you that I won’t be sending them anything back and will be ordering more on a regular basis. Hopefully they set up a “subscribe and save” option on amazon soon;)

I love this protein powder. It is not chalky, it mixes really well and is not clumpy, whether you're just using water and a shaker ball or you're blending it in a blender with milk, you can add frozen banana or coffee ice cubes for a frappe, the ingredients are stellar, it doesn't cause any indigestion or stomach upset. It has digestive enzymes and prebiotics. It is organic and I love it.

I've been thru many protein powders, especially vegan ones thar are also soy and GF. I was worried about trying this because I couldn't sample first, and I'm so glad I found this stuff. It's not chalky like the stuff I've tried before. I like the consistency of the pre-made shakes from the store, but if course those are more expensive. The trick I've found for a very smooth drink is this protein powder + unsweetened Ripple milk + a little water and blending blending BLENDING in a magic bullet for a good 30 seconds, makes it so creamy and silky. For a boost of yum, I also like to blend with a very small amount of peanut butter and a dash of cinnamon. This is the best protein powder out there, and I think it's worth investing in a bullet to really blend this. The one thing I'm bummed about is the cost difference between the chocolate flavor and the mocha or caramel flavors.

This is, by far, the best vegan protein powder I have come across, and I have tried almost all of them. It has a silky smooth texture and blends very well in anything, even cold liquids! I start with a few ounces of room-temp water, shake it up, then add 6-8 ounces of coconut milk and it's like a creamy treat. Unlike many vegan protein powders, it has just the right amount of sweetness. It is not gritty and it doesn't leave a bad stevia-aftertaste in your mouth. I was a little worried at first about coconut sugar being in the top 5 ingredients, but I think the fact that it has inulin, acacia fiber, and 7 fruits and vegetables, the fiber content balances it out, resulting in only 2g sugar, 2g fiber for the total net carbs at only 7g. It is hard for most companies to get this balance right, and KOS does it better than any of the others! I was also very impressed at the level of vitamins and minerals it had. Most companies focus on protein content only, or taste, and leave out the micronutrients that are vital to muscle recovery. It has an impressive 40% DV of B12, 20% DV of Iodine, 20% DV of Zinc, 40% DV of Riboflavin/Iron, 34% DV of Selenium, and 100% DV of Copper. As an added bonus, it has 30 mcg or 70% DV of Molybdenum, which is a powerhouse for gut health and liver healing. I drink this after workouts, but even if I didn't exercise as much, I would recommend it for anyone as a good source of macro AND micro nutrients! And finally, as far as protein content, I really like the fact that it has 20 grams and that it comes from a blend of pea, flax, quinoa, pumpkin and chia seed proteins, combined with the digestive enzymes to help the body break it all down. You get the diverse benefits of all the different plant sources all in one drink, and I'm sure those diverse sources are what provide such a wide range of micronutrients that the other protein drinks can't hold a candle to. This wins in all categories- blendability, taste, protein content and sources, micro-nutrient content, low-sugar content, as well as being surprisingly powerful for the maintenance of gut health.

My original review was 3 stars - tasted like chocolate pudding. Looks and smells like vomit. Mixes like cardboard. The only way to do it is with a blender. Even then, it's questionable. So my updated review is zero stars [if I could] because this stuff interferes with your digestive system in a serious way. I don't care what good reviews there are about it - as of May 2019, it's garbage and it isn't returnable by any convenient means. If you care to, read on. But otherwise, if you're in the market for a vegan protein powder, good luck finding one that isn't contaminated or overpriced. Check your diet first before you start thinking the 1-key to your fitness is in a plastic jar. I only opted for a protein powder to see if I could get any more gains in the gym. I didn't intend to use this as a meal replacement or heavy supplement plan. It was just supposed to be a treat for after a workout to build a little extra lean muscle. So why is this KOS a POS? Well, I'll give you some background information and explain what's going on here that's so bad. 1. I'm a 25 year old male, 225 lbs and solid muscle. I do P90X (X2 is better) and I swim everyday [except the weekends, which is when I occasionally do a 10-15 mile ride if weather isn't terrible]. I eat like a horse and sleep like a bear for 8 hours a night - under normal conditions. The last I was sick was in 2016 - and it was food poisoning. 2. I eat everything except red meat. Nothing personal - I just don't like the taste and quality these days is lower than what the standards try to maintain. I don't take supplements and I don't take vitamins. I get my nutrition from whole, healthy vegetables and clean meats (chicken, turkey, salmon, etc.). 3. I am a medical student and know a thing or two about ACTUAL physiology - not the white noise or 'one-word' compliments mentioned by other reviewers. It's not good enough that you 'are' something (nutritionist, physical therapist, bla bla bla) - the 'why' is what is most important in a review. So again, why did I purchase this KOS? I thought I was getting a good, clean protein to help get a little extra beef in the gym. Wrong move on my part. So, here you go. A. This powder raises your blood pH - which can be a MAJOR problem for anyone, whether you're in or out of shape. - My resting heart rate (at 11 am) is around 62 bpm on a bad day. On a good day, between 57-59. 3 hours after drinking KOS (at 8am), the best I could get was 72. That's NOT good. - In addition, my respiration had increased noticeably - I felt short of breath, though no chest pain. Anyone with an ounce of physiology knows that one way to reduce blood pH is to increase respiration - because that lowers CO2 in the blood. If my respiration set point increases - my brain is saying to my body, "You're pH is off, buddy. Better try to bring it back down otherwise it's curtains for this rodeo." B. Bloating and cramping to the max - resultant in potential potassium/glucose dumping in urine and feces (REALLY BAD) -People with diabetes often urinate more frequently (and at night - nocturia) because their kidneys are unable to keep the glucose from their blood in their system. Usually, this is because their blood sugar is SUPER high (even 2x the normal 100mg/dl can do this). I've had nocturia every time I've used KOS which tell me my body is trying to dump excess glucose. I don't have diabetes and my blood glucose is around 90 mg/dl (during a TB titer in Jan, 2019), so this is a major red flag. Inevitably, you lose salts in this process - including sodium and potassium salts. Losing potassium [or having too much potassium] in the kidneys can be fatal. Am I saying KOS can kill you? No, but do you want to risk overtaxing your system to deal with something clearly toxic? -You'll have a knot in your stomach for sure - and I actually mean 'Stomach'. Mine always got particularly noisy after ingesting this KOS stuff. C. Gains at the Gym? What gains would those be? No Gains with Excess Water! Not to mention Brain Fog. -During the 1-serving-per-day-for-1-week that I used this stuff, I skipped nearly all my days working out because I felt terrible waking up. No energy, no zest and absolutely no core strength. Brain fog throughout the day and just a general ill feeling. The one day I did exercise (Monday) - my system was totally gassed. I was heavily winded and just plain out-of-steam. Not to mention, light-headedness after a brief bout of cardio with weights (that tells me my heart was trying to overclock itself - hope I didn't do any damage). -I still feel terrible, although, less terrible since I have taken a little apple cider vinegar with some apple juice to help my body recover a little bit. Since taking my ACV, I've noticed my vascularity has improved (my vessels had sunken down a bit with the KOS) and I've frequently urinated (about twice an hour for 3 hours - though I haven't drank any water). That alone told me my body had excess water - probably around my heart - and since I've consumed a natural diuretic, I'm getting back to basics with my system. I'm just in awe that my body went from hero to zero in 5 days using what was supposed to be a minor supplement. So...I hope my review can provide some clarity on my experience with KOS's powder. If I were you, I'd find a way to build muscle from protein in a non-processed food - not some chemical powder in a plastic tub.